‘The Pakistani state does as it pleases’

Amber Shamsi, the host of SAMAA TV’s programme Sawaal weighs in on the double standards of the state and the differing actions it takes when it comes to punishing criminals.

We live in a state where terrorists who have confessed to their crimes live a protected life for years even after being arrested, said Shamsi, giving examples of Uzair Baloch and Ehsanullah Ehsan.

She asks whether anyone knows whose custody these criminals are in or if a case against them is even ongoing.

In the same state, there exist those criminals who roam freely.

She spoke about former Malir SSP Rao Anwar and how the prime suspect in the Naqeebullah murder case was kept under house arrest in comfortable conditions and later released. She said he is now a suspect and a citizen at the same time.

The same state that acts with such caution when it comes to criminals also mercilessly kills other people who have yet to be proven as terrorists, she said, referring to the deaths of four people in the recent Sahiwal shooting.

Showing clips of different leaders making statements on the Sahiwal shooting saying that terrorists took cover of an innocent family, Shamsi said these leaders make decisions as they please. They decide who will live and who will die, she said.

Shamsi questioned the credibility of the process of accountability in the country, asking to what extent the JIT report in the Sahiwal shooting will be un-biased considering the state of affairs in Pakistan.